Polar Bear Galore!

“Is this for REAL?” my wife Sue & I kept asking each other last week while romping with polar bears on Hudson Bay. A dozen of us took part in Wintergreen’s pioneering venture with Churchill Wild at their lovely Seal River Heritage Lodge in northern Manitoba to hike the Arctic Ocean shore amongst polar bears waiting for the sea ice (their winter habitat) to form. These 1,000-pound, 8-foot bruins pass the time snoozing, rolling in the snow, poking through driftwood and (incredibly fun to watch!) sparring with each other just like boxing circus bears.

The town of Churchill is indeed the world’s bear capital and each fall thousands of tourists enjoy the antics of the bears through the windows of all-terrain buses called “tundra buggies.” Churchill Wild is unique among northern outfitters in that their lodges are far removed from the hub-bub of town and their superb guides take you out trekking on the tundra to get ‘up close and personal’ with Arctic wildlife. Bears are the star attraction but arctic foxes, ptarmigan, gyre falcons, lemmings, snowy owls, snow geese, arctic wolves and caribou make occasional guest appearances.

Hosts Mike & Jeanne Reimer and their top-notch crew hosted us like family, feasted us like royalty and sent us home shaking our heads and still wondering, “was that for real?” There is simply no wildlife viewing experience that tops this in North American, and probably in the world. Just how close do you get? While filming a bear that came up to greet me through their lodge’s obervation fence, I smelt his hot breath. And while hiking the tundra, our guides often determined that it was safe for us to get within a 100 feet of them.

Plans are in the works for a return visit next fall. Let us know pronto if you’re interested (first come-first serve!) and we’ll alert you to details as soon as they’re available.
Go bears!

Luck o' the Irish finds the "Polar Time Capsule"

The 1986 dogsled trek that Will Steger & I (Paul Schurke) led to the North Pole was oddly fraught with inexplicable curiosities and encounters. Perhaps the most unlikely upshot involved a humble piece of plumbing pipe. Enjoy this bonified 'believe it or not' tale!

National Geographic deemed our epic 1986 dogsled trek to the North Pole "a landmark in polar exploration" because we did it WITHOUT resupply. Everything needed to sustain our 50 dogs & 8 team members in temps that reached 75 below zero, was carried with us -- some 7,000 pounds of food, fuel and gear. When we reached our goal, all but a few pounds of that food (oatmeal!) had been consumed. As we awaited our ski plane pick-up at the Pole, we had only one thing to leave behind at the top of the world: a "polar time capsule."

It stemmed from a whimsical idea Will Steger & I had months before. While training with our team in Ely, MN, we took a 4" x 2' section of plastic plumbing pipe, painted it blaze orange, affixed screw caps to both ends, and invited each team member to place a memento in it. If we reached the Pole, we'd leave the capsule behind for posterity.

It's contents included a Boy Scout scarf, a beaded Indian belt, a letter to Santa Claus that a school child had given us, a small lace prayer circle, a 10 Kroner bill and a scroll with the story of our journey and the names of our team members and our hundreds of volunteer & sponsors.
On May 1, after a 2-month, 1,000-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean, we reached the Pole -- frostbitten and battered but giddy with excitement. Our celebrations included a little dance around the top of the world during which I ceremoniously pitched the time capsule over my shoulder into a jumbled heap of ice. "Well," laughed Will, "there's something we'll never see again!"

Upon our return home, our expedition sponsor, Du Pont company, had a whimsical idea as well. To capitalize on the international media fanfare prompted by our success, they posted a press release offering a $5,000 reward for recovery of the capsule. Considering that it been set adrift among 5 million square miles of ice at the most remote spot on the planet, it was a safe bet.

But a funny thing happened. Nearly three years later, in February 1989, Irish carpenter Peadar Gallagher was on a Sunday stroll along the Atlantic Ocean beach in County Donegal. He spotted an odd bit of flotsam. Curious as to what it contained, he took it home and cracked it open. Unbeknownst to him, he'd found the time capsule. The one item inside that remained legible, was a Polaroid photo of our team bearing the words "National Geographic Society." He reported the find to the American Embassy in Dublin which in turn helped put in touch with NGS and Du Pont officials in Washington D.C. "We were shocked," said Du Pont's Robert Slavin upon learning that the capsule had survived a 2,100 mile ocean journey. "After three years, we had simply forgot about it."

Then expedition marketing wizard Jeff Blumenfeld had another whimsical idea. To generate more media fanfare, plans were made to offer Gallagher an all-expense-paid first class vacation to New York City if he'd appear at an international media event to receive his check. But when Blumenfeld phoned Gallagher to alert him to the significance of his discovery and his reward, he got an unexpected response. No way, no how, said Gallagher. He had no interest in going to New York. He wouldn't budge. So a forlorn Du Pont exec schlepped to Gallagher's home to present the check and retrieve the capsule.

Despite Gallagher's recalcitrance, news of the capsule's recovery fascinated the country. The Associated Press story appeared in hundreds of newspaper, providing a huge return on Du Pont's $5,000 investment. And the time capsule was displayed at the Explorers Club in New York City -- where it presumably enjoyed it's visit to 'The Big Apple' more than Peadar Gallagher might have.

New Trip Schedule is Set!

FLASH NEWS! Our new trip schedule is all set! Contact us pronto if you'd like to receive an advance copy. This is your chance to get 'first dibs' on trips before we post the schedule on our website in late May (when our peak-season holiday trips are likely to fill fast!) Good news -- no price increases for next season and 'early bird' registrants can take up to $200 off through our 'Early Sign-Up Discount." Email or call us for your advance copy of our December 2010 to April 2011 Wintergreen Dogsled Trips schedule. 877-753-3386

Bask in the warmth of our yurt!

Wintergreen's annual parent-daughter dogsled group enjoyed the inaugural night in our new yurt -- a cozy, wood-heated hexagonal tent that offers our guests a wee taste of winter camping while being just a short walk away from our lodge.

How do we Minnesotans handle this brisk weather?

Yes, it's been a tad nippy in northern Minnesota this week. We've been waking up to -35 temps several mornings in a row. Fortunately, the wind isn't blowing much, so the wind-chill index is quite bearable. Ever wonder how we northern Minnesotans thrive in such frigid weather? We somehow seem to handle it better than others around the country. For example:

60 above zero: Floridians turn on the heat. Minnesotans plant gardens.
50 above zero: Californians shiver uncontrollably. People are sunbathing in Duluth.
40 above zero: Import cars won’t start. Minnesotans drive with the sunroof open.
32 above zero: Distilled water freezes. The water in Ely gets thicker.
20 above zero: New Mexicans don long johns, parkas and wool hats & mittens. Minnesotans throw on a flannel shirt.
15 above zero: New York landlords finally turn on the heat. People in Minnesota have one last cookout before it gets cold.Zero: People in Miami all die. Minnesotans close the windows.
10 below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico Minnesotans dig their winter coats out of storage.
25 below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. Girl Scouts in Minnesota still selling cookies door to door.
40 below zero: Washington, D.C. finally runs out of hot air. People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors (except the sled dogs).
100 below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because the Mini-Van won’t start.
460 below zero: All atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in Minnesota can be heard to say, “Cold ’nuff fer ya?”
500 below zero: Hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools open 2 hours late.

Too Cold to Camp? Bah Humbug!

Wintergreen's 3 New Year's dogsled camping groups include folks ranging in age from 8 to 68 and from Australia to Tennessee! They're planning a bonfire gathering on a wilderness lake for New Years and will be building cozy igloos and snow shelters tomorrow to prepare for a night out with temps slated to dip to near -30 on the first day of 2010.

Guests Find a 12-Pack on the Dogsled Trail!

Wintergreen guest Tom Everett and his 3 sons, who came here from Egypt for their dogsled vacation, enjoyed a rare wildlife sighting -- a pack of 12 timber wolves that sauntered out along the frozen river they were traveling along. Guide Steve Eisenmenger says it ranked among the largest packs he'd ever seen in his 30 years of guiding. "Absolutely awesome!" is what Tom's sons said.